"I just hope you invite us back for the victory party!" said Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos at Tuesday night's Barack Rock benefit show at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg. And as evidenced by the evening's general ebullience, Obama's Brooklyn contingency expect to have reason to plan that celebratory bash.

Is it possible for monsters to possess a sense of honor? On January 27, indie-pop troubadour -- and babe magnet -- Andrew Bird will attempt to answer that question with the release of his eighth studio album, Noble Beast, on Fat Possum.

Andrew Bird is a modern-day renaissance man. Beyond his multi-instrumental prowess and penchant for quirky, orchestrated chamber pop, Bird has come to define the sort of bookish, detached cool that can't be bought, styled, or practiced in front of the mirror.